Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) Given Outperform Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James restated their outperform rating on shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $46.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $42.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BBWI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upgraded Bath & Body Works from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bath & Body Works has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.44.

Bath & Body Works Stock Performance

Shares of BBWI opened at $35.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.83. Bath & Body Works has a 52 week low of $26.20 and a 52 week high of $52.99.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.78 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bath & Body Works will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Bath & Body Works’s payout ratio is currently 19.51%.

Bath & Body Works announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, February 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bath & Body Works

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 89,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after buying an additional 5,706 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 69.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 7,443 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at $343,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 418.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 127,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,061,000 after buying an additional 102,675 shares during the last quarter. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works, Inc is a specialty retailers and home to America’s Favorite Fragrances, offering a breadth of exclusive fragrances for the body and home, including the selling collections for fine fragrance mist, body lotion and body cream, 3-wick candles, home fragrance diffusers and liquid hand soap.